About Us

This is the official website for the Town of Springfield, Colorado.

Springfield is located in the southeastern corner of the State of Colorado, approximately 1,500 miles from either coast, 30 miles from Kansas, 30 miles from Oklahoma, and halfway between Denver, Colorado and Amarillo, Texas. Springfield is the county seat and is located in the middle of Baca County. The population was 1,451 at the 2010 Census. Springfield originally developed as a cattle ranching and farming community and a major stagecoach stop. The town was named Springfield because most of the early residents had lived in Springfield, MO.

Established by the Windsor Town Company in 1887, the town was incorporated in 1889 around the time that Jim and Frank Tipton secured the title to 80 acres which was the original townsite. They did this through a "soldiers script". In 1889 Springfield was named the temporary county seat. Other towns competing for the seat were Minneapolis, Stonington, and Boston. The day of the election to determine the county seat, two men representing the town of Boston got lost during a snowstorm. After much controversy, a second election was held and Springfield won the permanent seat.

Once Springfield was officially the county seat they purchased the largest hotel in the town of Boston to be used for the courthouse. The $6,000 purchase was to be paid in full on delivery of the hotel if it was right side up and was handled with care, however the structure burned to the ground the day before its final delivery. The next two courthouses also burned and the present courthouse was built in 1929.

The next purchase for the Town of Springfield was the jailhouse. The contract for a two celled steel cage was at a cost of $3,254. The jailhouse was received on September 10, 1889. According to Kent Brooks' book "Old Boston" (to purchase "Old Boston: As Wild As They Come" click HERE, "the sheriff could not exceed 95 cents for feeding prisoners and the main crime was horse thieving". For more history on Springfield and Baca County visit Mr. Brooks blog by clicking HERE.